Improvement in harvesters



H. MARCELDUS, OF AMSTERDAM, NElV YORK.

IIVIPRGVEMENT I N HARVESTERS.

Specitcation forming part of Letters Patent No. E9,999,`dated April 20, 1858.

fio all whom it may concern .-4

Beit known that I, H. MARoELLUs, of Amsterdam, in the county of Montgomery and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Harvesters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side sectional view of a harvester with myimprovement applied to it. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of harvesters in which a pole-plank is employed to serve as a rest or bearing for a lever by which the cutting device is raised and lowered.

The invention consists in attaching the draftpole to the pole-plank at a point intermediate between the caster-wheel at the outer end of the pole-plank and the point where the pole-plank is connected with the machine, whereby several advantages are obtained over similar machines, as hereinafter shown.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it. l v

`A represents the frame of a harvester, whic is mounted on wheels B B. I

C C are metal hounds, attached to one end of the frame A, near the driving-wheel D.

E is a pole-plank, the back end of which is attached to the hounds C C by a bolt, F, the pole-plank being allowed to work freely on the bolt F. To the outer end of the pole-plank E a caster-wheel, G, is attached.

vTo thc pole-plank E a lever, H, is attached,

by which the cutting device at the front end ofthe frame may be raised and lowered; and I is the draft-pole, the back end of which has two metal draft-bars, a a, attached. These draft-bars are not parallel with each other, but diverge so that the front part of the pole-plank E may tit between them, as shown clearly in Fig. 2.' The inner ends of the draftbars 'are connected to the pole-plank by means of a bolt,

` J, which passes through both ends of the bars and transversely through the pole-plank. The bolt J passes through the pole-plank at a point between the caster-wheel G and the bolt F,

which connects the pole-plank with the machine, and this point should he at a little back of the center of the pole-plank in order to obtain the best results. I do not, however, confine myself to any precise point between the caster-wheel G and bolt F for connecting the draft-bars to the pole-plan k, but prefer the point as stated and shown in the drawings.

, The object of the pole-plank E is to form bearing for the purpose ot' elevating the cutting device, said bearing relieving the team of the weight of themachine when the cutters are raised, for formerly the pressure was sus tained bythe draft-pole. In the original application of the pole-plank it was attached to the machine independently of the draft-pole, but provided, as herein shown, with a casterwheel at its outer end. This independent connection of the pole-plank was very objectionable, as in case of the caster-wheel passing into abrupt hollows the front end of the machine would be immediately depressed and the sickle run into the ground. Another objection atbars a a, were necessarily long, extending the whole length of the pole-plank, and consequently the draft-pole could not be made stift' or irm; it would have a lateral spring or vibration. By my improvement it will be seen that these objections are avoided. The draftbars a a are of moderate length, so that the draft-pole may be made stift', and the casterwheel G is prevented from passing into abrupt hollows, in consequence ot' being connected to the draft-pole, the pull keeping the front end of the pole-planlt,a1'1d consequentlythe sickle, in an elevated state. Attempts have been made to obviate the disadvantages attending the independent connection of the pole-plank with the machine by attaching the frontend ofthe pole-plank directly to the draftpole, and having the caster-wheel attach-ed to the back end ofthe draft-pole. This plan, however, was unsuccessful, for the machine couldnot be backed well. Frequently in attempting to back, the front end ofthe pole-plank and the back end of the tongue would rise upward, and the power could not be applied to the machine, for the tongue and poleplank, instead ot' transmitting the power from the team backward to the machine, would act like a jointed bar to which the line of pressf tending this connection was thatthe draft' ure was applied out of line with the pole and pole-plank; and in order to be able to back the machine at all the front end of the poleplanlr was required to be raised.V By my improvement this difficulty is avoided.

I do not claim the pole-plank E, with casterwheel G attached, for relieving the draft-pole ot' the weight ofthe front end of the machine when the sickle is raised, for that has been previously used g nor do I claim attaching the draft-pole to the pole-plank irrespective of the particular arrangement or the point where the pole is attached, as herein shown and described; but,

Witnesses:

GEO. C. BELL, HARRY BELL. 

